Then
by Gir Crazy
Summary: "Their relationship was... not normal. By any standard." Implied slash. Rated for some violence.


AN: Alright, let me clear a few things up first. One, this fic is going to imply Jack/Karkat. If that offends you, you should probably hit the back button, and I am sorry for disturbing you in your search for fics you might actually like. Second, ignore the title. I honestly could not think of a good title for this, so I chose a random one. Three, I think this fic is written a little oddly, so... sorry for that. I'll get out of your way now.

Disclaimer: Homestuck is not mine. It belongs to the Huss.

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><p>Their relationship was... not normal. By any standard.<p>

He abused Karkat. Battered him both physically and mentally, hurt him in any way he could. He awaited retaliation, searched for hidden resentment, any sign that the maltreatment was doing what it would do to anyone else. But there was none. The troll shrugged it off with a wince and a small smile, turning to nurse the wound in silence. That's all. Every time. And Jack had no idea, could not figure out, why.

One day, he just couldn't stand it anymore. After stabbing the troll and receiving the same methodical reaction he got every single time, he snapped. He grabbed Karkat by the front of the shirt and nearly lifted him off the ground as he jerked him forward. "Why won't you hate me?" the archagent hissed desperately.

Karkat blinked. And for the first time, Jack truly saw the weariness in his companion's face, the dark rings under the tired eyes that stared blankly into his own. It wasn't just a lack of sleep. There was something beneath that, something buried under all the restrained flinches and forced smiles and silence, emotions that wore away at the surface that so obstinately contained them.

"Do you want me to hate you?" Karkat asked, his voice barely audible.

Jack let go of the troll's shirt. "...I don't know," he whispered, turning away.

There was a stagnant silence. He felt like something should have changed. That what he saw should have altered something, caused something to be different.

But nothing had changed, really.

Because he still didn't know what lay underneath what he saw.

And he still didn't know why it was, and would continue to be, buried there.

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><p>He awoke one night to Karkat's voice a few feet away from him.<p>

"Who are you?"

His eyes opened. There Karkat sat, legs crossed, face turned skyward, eyes distant as though not focusing on what was in front of them.

He watched as the troll squinted those yellow orbs in confusion. "But that's impossible. He's right here with me."

There was a long pause. Karkat's face slowly turned downward, expression falling into a sad apprehension. "I see... So then she actually does manage to..." Distant eyes fluttered shut as one shaky word emerged from the lips below them. "Damn."

There was another pause. Karkat again turned his face toward the sky above, now open eyes pooled in an indiscernible emotion. "So... how much longer until... until... she succeeds. From my perspective."

Another pause.

Karkat nodded slowly, his ever distant gaze returning to his lap. A moment of silence passed. The troll looked back up and opened his mouth as though wanting to say something, but rather quickly closed it and looked back down.

Another moment passed. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Karkat finally asked, in a slightly quivering voice:

"Jack, do you hate me?"

For what seemed like an eternity after, there was nothing but silence. The world itself seemed to freeze in place until, at long last, Karkat unfolded his legs and lay down, facing away from his companion.

Jack never mentioned that night to Karkat. It wasn't just that it had been such a strange occurrence, an event so odd that it made him question the stability of the troll's mind. He felt like he had intruded upon something private, witnessed something he wasn't meant to witness. And, for some reason he could not discern, he didn't want Karkat knowing that he had.

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><p>It was a few days later when Karkat, who had been quietly trailing behind him for quite awhile, suddenly spoke.<p>

"Listen, Jack..."

He stopped and turned. Karkat stood a couple of feet away, one hand in his pocket. "I want to give you something. I don't care if you don't want it, just... just take it."

The troll removed his hand from his pocket and held it out. On his palm lay two licorice Scotty dogs.

"You... do like licorice, don't you? If you don't, well... would you take them anyway? You don't have to eat them or anything..."

Jack stared at the two little treats in Karkat's hand. Slowly, he reached forward. His gloved fingertips brushed lightly against gray skin as he took the Scotty dogs, causing a very small jolt of electricity to run up his fingers and through his hand.

He stared at the licorice candies now in his palm, then moved his gaze up to look at Karkat. "Where did you get these? And how the hell did you know I like licorice?"

The troll ran the hand that had previously held the Scotty dogs through his madly unkempt hair and looked at the floor. "I alchemized them a while ago, by accident. And Terezi said you smelled a bit like licorice, so I just... kind of assumed."

The archagent stared at his companion for a moment longer, then looked back down at the candy he had just been given. He rolled a Scotty dog lightly between his thumb and index finger, then closed his hand and pocketed them both. "...Thanks."

Karkat look up from the ground. "No problem," the troll said with a small smile. A smile that was nothing like the ones he had given before. A real smile.

Jack turned back around, and the duo continued their travels.

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><p>Two weeks later, Jack sat alone.<p>

A wasted planet lay before him in all directions. The harsh sun beat down on iridescent sand and dilapidated buildings, causing waves of heat to dance before the former archagent's squinted eyes.

He was hungry. He was thirsty. And he was tired. And there was nothing on that planet that could relieve him of any of his ailments.

Lethargically, he reached into a makeshift pocket in the rags that served as his clothing, and pulled out two licorice Scotty dogs. He rolled one lightly between his thumb and forefinger, hesitantly, contemplatively.

Then, just as he had done two weeks prior, he proceeded to deposit them into the relative safety of his pocket.

Jack stared ahead into the blazing horizon. He wasn't going to give up. He was going to get up and do something with the forsaken wasteland he was stuck in. He was going to make it livable, build a place where people could survive and thrive.

He didn't know how he was going to do it. But damn it if he wasn't going to give it his all.

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><p>AN: So, there you have it. Odd, I know. Still, I hope someone out there has enjoyed this.<p>

~Gir Crazy ;3


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